Reports began intensifying Tuesday about an uptick of activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine, with the mayor of Lewiston confirming an “increased presence” of ICE agents in that city.
Local officials in Lewiston, as well as Portland and Biddeford, spoke repeatedly last week about the anticipated spike in ICE activity — even as the Department of Homeland Security refused to confirm any such plans in advance.
Throughout the state, residents have started posting potential sightings of ICE agents to social media, while some schools locked their doors amid reports of nearby immigration enforcement activity.
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7 p.m.: ‘I need to be doing as much as I can’
A group of about 20 protesters gathered outside Portland City Hall on Monday night after a day of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the state.
“I worry that eventually we’re not going to have time to act on this,” said an organizer who asked not to be identified. “So I think doing something today, and doing something now, is going to be crucially important before it gets violent.”
One attendee, E.J. Andersen, said he had been at several recent protests against ICE, in Monument Square and elsewhere in the state.
On Tuesday, he said he turned out because of a video circulating online appeared to show a high school student being detained.
“I feel like I need to be doing as much as I can,” Andersen said. “And this is a part of it.”
— Riley Board
5 p.m.: Kennedy Park soccer games suspended amid ICE worries
A group that coordinates pickup soccer games in Portland’s Kennedy Park has indefinitely paused operations as concerns of heightened immigration enforcement have its members on edge.
Anthony Fiori, a leader from the Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer group, said organizers canceled a game planned for last week amid rumors of upcoming U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Fiori said he worried ICE could target the games and members who participate, noting that several of players have already been detained.
He did not know when the games might be able to resume. The group last hosted games earlier in January.
“We’re pretty nervous about the players, of course. And the players themselves are just very scared,” Fiori said on a Friday phone call. “We just really have no clue. We kind of feel like we’re working in the dark here.”
In the meantime, team members are coordinating with each other to collect details, like names and immigration statuses, of players who may be at risk, he said.
“We learned a lot of lessons from when Joel Andre got detained,” Fiori said. “If someone goes missing … we can at least search the ICE database to see if they’ve been detained and see where they are.”
— Daniel Kool
3 p.m.: Lewiston mayor confirms ‘increased presence’ of ICE
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline confirmed an “increased presence” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the city Tuesday afternoon.
“I know, given the national news, this may cause anxiety, fear or uncertainty for some in our community,” Sheline said in a written statement. “In moments like this, what matters most is how we show up for one another and that we remember who we are and what we stand for as Mainers: the rule of law, the right to peacefully protest, and compassion for our neighbors.”
Sheline asked that residents remain calm and peaceful and rely only on verified information. He also cautioned residents to check in on their neighbors and know their constitutional rights, and said anyone encountering ICE agents should remain calm.
“Lewiston is a city shaped by people from many places and many stories,” Sheline said. “Our differences are not a fault line. They are the strong foundation of who we are. Every person deserves to feel safe, respected, and treated with dignity.”
Read the mayor’s full statement here.
— Joe Charpentier
2:30 p.m.: Biddeford mayor calls rumors ‘deeply unsettling’
Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain called rumors of potentially increased immigration enforcement “deeply unsettling” in a statement.
LaFountain said Friday that Biddeford officials had not received confirmation of increased ICE activity but have reached out to the state government for clarity.
“Since learning of these reports, public safety has remained the City’s top priority,” LaFountain wrote.
As a matter of long-standing policy, LaFountain said, the Biddeford Police Department does not enforce federal immigration law or participate in civil immigration enforcement.
Read the full story here.
— Sydney Richelieu
1:30 p.m.: Absences higher than normal at South Portland schools
There were an “unusually higher” number of absences Tuesday at South Portland schools as rumors of immigration enforcement spread, Superintendent George Entwistle said.
While no immigration enforcement officers have shown up on or near South Portland school grounds to his knowledge, staff and students have been on edge, he said.
The district, in partnership with the University Maine Law School’s Refugee and Human Rights Clinic, will host two training sessions related to immigration issues in the coming weeks. Those have been in the works for months, Entwistle said, but they take on new urgency in the current moment.
The first is an in-person training on Jan. 28 for all school clerks, presenting practical responses and discussion about immigration enforcement to the front-line personnel should immigration enforcement officers present themselves at schools. The second training, scheduled for Feb. 24, is virtually available to all staff members, and it will discuss current issues in immigration and schools.
“Things are very upsetting,” Entwistle said. “These trainings are a good way to feel like they can manage anything they have to manage to protect our students.”
Entwistle said his district is considering additional training for specific people, such as social workers, school psychologists and coaches.
— Dana Richie
1:15 p.m.: Penobscot Nation chief urges tribal members to carry tribal ID
Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis on Tuesday issued a statement on Facebook urging members to carry identification cards issued by the tribe.
Francis said he was not aware of any ICE activity on Penobscot lands or any interactions between agents and tribal members. However, he said, members of federally recognized tribes in other states have been arrested by ICE, and tribal identification has not always proved to be sufficient proof of citizenship.
“We know that many of you have heard reports of ICE interactions involving individuals who are, by law and by birthright, citizens of Tribal Nations,” Francis wrote. “News and social media reports indicate that ICE has detained several Native Americans throughout the country and have conducted raids on facilities located on Tribal lands. The Tribal government has verified that some of these reports are true, and some are false.”
Francis said ICE agents are inadequately trained on the use of tribal identification and documentation to prove citizenship, but that a former tribal chairman who advises U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is working to resolve the issue.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, tribal documents can fall into the same category as a U.S. Citizen I.D card.
Francis encouraged tribal citizens to review guidelines issued by the Native American Rights Fund in the event a tribal member is approached by ICE.
“Our Penobscot Nation has endured many challenges throughout our history, and we continue to stand strong together,” he wrote. “The Tribal Council remains committed to protecting the rights, safety, and sovereignty of our people. We will continue to monitor ICE activities and keep you informed.”
— Reuben M. Schafir
1 p.m.: South Portland schools’ plans if ICE arrives
South Portland schools’ policy directs staff members to keep students away from immigration officers and to direct agents towards the main office should they enter private property, according to a copy of the policy obtained by a public records request.
Should immigration officers appear on or near South Portland school grounds, staff members are instructed to stay calm, direct the officer to the front office and not answer any questions about students or families’ status, according to the school department’s policy.
Front office clerks should contact the principal while asking the officer to remain in the main office. The principal should then contact the superintendent’s office to review legal documents and warrants.
The policy also reminds staff that administrative immigration warrants authorizing federal officers to arrest someone for an immigration violation do not function as judicial warrants, allowing officers to access and search nonpublic spaces. The school department’s plan instructs front line staff to collect these documents and contact their principal, who would then contact the superintendent’s office for legal review.
Staff members are instructed to not physically interfere with officers should they try to move into nonpublic spaces. They should instead protect students by keeping them in the classroom when instructed, calling the principal and moving students away from officers.
If there are officers visibly near school grounds or at bus stops, administrators may opt to increase adult presence at arrival and dismissal.
The department may host information sessions for families about “rights, preparedness and available support” in partnership with legal and community organizations, according to the plan. Offerings would include a virtual option and translated materials as needed to support vulnerable members of the community.
Social workers, counselors, clerks will receive training from legal partners about what they can do or discuss and when to connect a family to an attorney.
— Dana Richie
12:45 p.m.: 2 Portland schools briefly go on ‘lockout’ amid report of nearby ICE arrest
Portland Public Schools administrators initiated a brief lockout at two campuses — Deering High School and Lincoln Middle School, both on Stevens Avenue — shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning after learning about potential immigration enforcement activity on nearby Brighton Avenue, district spokesperson Tess Nacelewicz said.
The lockouts involved closing external doors to people entering or leaving the schools, Nacelewicz said, but administrators determined there was no threat to the schools, and the lockouts were lifted within minutes.
“This is an understandably tense time in our community, as reports and rumors of immigration enforcement actions grow,” Nacelewicz said. “The Portland Public Schools will continue to follow our protocols for keeping students and staff safe, while also staying focused on our core work of teaching and learning.”
A video of ICE agents at a Cumberland Farms gas station on Brighton, less than half a mile from the high school, was widely circulated on social media Tuesday morning.
Nacelewicz did not respond immediately to questions about how the district was notified about the possible enforcement activity.
— Riley Board
